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вторник, 23 сентября 2014 г.

Group Backing Islamic State Vows to Kill French Citizen

By
Rukmini Callimachi

A
jihadist group in North Africa aligned with the Islamic State claimed
responsibility for the kidnapping of a Frenchman in a mountainous region of
Algeria, hours after the Islamic State called for attacks on Westerners. In the
video released Monday, the little-known group Jund al-Khilafah said France had
24 hours to halt attacks on the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, or see its
citizen executed.

Manuel
Valls, the French prime minister, said Tuesday that his government would not
stop its campaign despite the threat.

He
told Europe 1 radio that French authorities are “doing everything” to free the
hostage, but will not negotiate with his captors. “If we cede, if we retreat
one inch, that would hand victory” to the militants, Mr. Valls said.

The
kidnapping was the first of a Westerner by an Islamic State-aligned group
outside Syria. If copied, the tactic of kidnapping Westerners to pressure their
governments could expand the conflict beyond the group’s current footprint,
given that the Islamic State has secured pledges of allegiance from fighters in
other regions of Africa and the Middle East, and elsewhere in Asia.

The
Islamic State has kidnapped at least 23 Westerners so far, among them the
American freelance journalists James Foley, 40, and Steven J. Sotloff, 31, who
were beheaded, with their executions recorded on video.

The
Frenchman identified himself as Hervé Gourdel, 55, according to the video
provided by the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks jihadist groups. The
French government declined to name the man, saying only that a French national
was abducted.

“A
French citizen was taken this Sunday in Algeria in the region of Tizi Ouzou,”
Romain Nadal, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said by telephone, naming a region
of northern Algeria that is popular with mountaineers. “All of the services of
the state have been mobilized to try to find him.”

In
the video, the kidnappers quoted Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, spokesman for the
Islamic State, who said in a speech uploaded to the Internet last weekend that
the group’s followers should exact revenge against the citizens of countries
who have joined the United States in its fight against the group. The timing of
the kidnapping — which occurred sometime on Sunday — suggested that the French
victim was taken just hours after Mr. Adnani’s speech began circulating.

“If
you can, kill a disbelieving American or European — especially the spiteful and
filthy French — or an Australian, or a Canadian,” Mr. Adnani said in the
speech, a portion of which was quoted in the kidnapping video. “Then rely upon
Allah, and kill him in any manner or way, however it may be. Do not ask for
anyone’s advice.”

Mr.
Gourdel is seen sitting on a blanket next to his hooded captors, his knees
drawn to his chest and a camera slung around his neck. He reads from a script,
addressing President François Hollande of France, and states his name, place
and date of birth, and the names of his mother and father.

He
says he is a mountaineering guide who arrived in Algeria on Saturday and was
kidnapped a day later. He called on Mr. Hollande to halt France’s intervention
in Iraq.

His
captors threatened to kill him within a day if their demands were not met. “We
in Jund al-Khilafah in Algeria, in compliance with the command of our emir, the
caliph of the Muslims, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,” say the masked gunmen sitting
next to Mr. Gourdel, “we give a time frame to Hollande, the president of the
criminal country of France, to stop its assault on the Islamic State during the
next 24 hours from the issuance of this statement; otherwise, the fate of its
citizens will be” slaughter, according to a transcript by SITE.

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YOUTH PEACE PLAN OF GEORGIA

This publication is produced within the framework of the project - ‘‘Support Democratic Participation of Young Women in Building Peace and Stability in Georgia’’ implemented in Georgia by International Network for Civil Development - INCD in partnership with Young Women Experts’ Network for Peace and Security (YWEPS) and with the financial support of the Embassy of Canada through Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI).